POEM CAUSES STIR IN TN; STUDENTS, PARENTS PROTEST AGAINST AMERICAN COLLEGE
Tuesday, 28 July 2015 | Kumar Chellappan | CHENNAI
Dalit students with their parents are up in arms against the management of the elite American College at Madurai in Tamil Nadu for introducing a poem Mattukari ( Tamil for Beef) for undergraduate students of the autonomous college.
The poem written by Anbatavan (pseudonym of Anbusivam, a senior officer in Bank of Baroda) reportedly has many obscene and unprintable words. “The poet is trying to portray Dalits in poor light by making them speak obscene and derogatory words,” said Bheem Rao, a Dalit activist who also heads the ABVP unit in Madurai.
Santhosh Kumar, a student, said the poem has been deliberately planted as a compulsory paper in the first year of the undergraduate course. “We never speak such language either in our house or among friends,” a visibly upset Santhosh told The Pioneer.
The poet has directed his ire against those opposing the sale of beef and those preventing trafficking of animals from Tamil Nadu to slaughter houses in Kerala. The poem is in the form of a dialogue between a beef-eater and another person who lambasts the ban on the beef.
“It is shocking and beyond belief that such Tamil can be put in print and published in a college as a study material by someone claiming to be a Tamil literary giant and a senior banker with a nationalised bank. Surely, there should be reasonable restrictions on freedom of expression,” said S Kalyanaraman, Indologist of repute.
Prof Samy Thyagarajan, eminent Tamil scholar, said the poem with its choicest expletives, is an insult to the rich Dalit culture of Tamil Nadu. “The poet and the college authorities have demeaned the rich Tamil heritage. They have hurt the sentiments of Pallar and Parayar, two prominent Dalit sects by making it look like they speak only obscene words,” said the professor who expressed shock over the selection of such a work as compulsory paper.
But A Somasundaram, head of the Tamil department , American College, said the poem only explains the food habits and cultural aspects of the Dalit communities in Tamil Nadu. According to Sarojini, a faculty member, the poem was included to make students understand socio-economic and cultural aspects of Dalits which has been ignored by academia for ages.
Ramakrishnan Gautaman, director, Vedic Science Research Centre, Chennai, charged that the poet has exhorted the Dalits and the Muslims to come together to vanquish the caste Hindus who oppose cow slaughter. Sage Thiruvallur, whom the Dravidians project as their icon, was against cow slaughter and beef eating. By making the descendent of Thiruvalluvar speak obscene language, the poet has humiliated the Dalits as well as Thiruvallur.
Early this year two leading writers Perumal Murugan and Puliyur Murugesan were in the firing line for allegedly hurting the sentiments of caste Hindus in the State with their writings. “This time it is the turn of Dalits to protest. But we ourselves will take the cudgels on the behalf of Dalits,” said Gautaman.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/nation/poem-causes-stir-in-tn-students-parents-protest-against-american-college.html